“SUNGJAE-AH!”

Sooyoung opened her eyes as she heard the collective scream from Sungjae’s hyungs, as they rushed to his side. To her horror, she saw the dagger wedged into Sungjae’s chest and Sungjae writhing uncontrollably in agony on the ground. She ran forward and knelt down, before pulling Sungjae towards her, trying to calm him down.

“Sungjae-ah!” screamed Sooyoung, as she choked back tears. “Why were you so foolish? That dagger was meant for me!”

Sungjae’s writhing slowed down a little, as he bit down hard on his lower lip to try to bear the pain. Sungjae managed a wan smile, as he spoke in a raspy voice, “Mianhe, Sooyoung-ah. I couldn't let you bear this pain. If only one person needs to bear this pain for the connection to be cut, then it should be me. I’m the one who caused all of this in the first place. I’m sorry for causing you all this trouble and pain, Sooyoung-ah.”

“Anniya, Sungjae-ah. There never was any trouble or pain,” cried Sooyoung. Her eyes widened in shock and fear and a chill came over her heart, as she saw Sungjae’s hand start to turn translucent. Sungjae was starting to fade away before her eyes. Turning to Minhyuk in horror, she asked frantically, “Minhyuk-ssi! What’s happening to Sungjae?”

The other six Cupids flocked to Sungjae in shock and held hands in a circle. Six individual white glows formed in front of their chests and met in the centre, forming a blinding white light. It hovered in mid-air for a few moments, before floating down to Sungjae and entering his chest. Sungjae stopped fading, as Sooyoung asked Minhyuk again, “What’s happening to him, Minhyuk-ssi?”

Minhyuk summoned a powerful white glow in his hands and was just about to pump it into Sungjae, when Eunkwang caught his arm and pulled him backwards.

“Andwae, Minhyuk-ah! If you do this, you’ll lose your powers!” shouted Eunkwang.

“I have no choice, Eunkwang-ah! We need to save Sungjae!” replied Minhyuk.

“We can’t…” said Eunkwang in a choking voice.

Sooyoung looked at Eunkwang in shock and asked, “Why not? Didn't the six of you transfer some of your powers to him? Didn't you say that the dagger will only cause pain and not kill? WHAT’S HAPPENING?”

“The power that the six of us transferred to him can only keep him in existence. But it is inevitable that he will lose all his powers… and perhaps more,” explained Eunkwang hesitantly, as tears clouded his eyes. “The love that we create makes up most of our essence, Sooyoung-ah. That dagger serves to cut connections of love by destroying love, which means it’s fatal to us. It eats away our essence and will cause us to fade away. That’s why you had to be the receiving party. The dagger would have only cut the connection of love but otherwise left you intact. But now that Sungjae took the blow himself…”

Sungjae continued to writhe and scream in agony in Sooyoung’s arms, despite his form slowly becoming more corporeal again. Eunkwang pulled Sungjae away from Sooyoung, as Changsub helped Sooyoung up.

“The deed is done. Your feelings for him should also be fading as we speak,” said Changsub. “It’ll hurt a little, but it should fade quickly. Once it fades completely, you will lose all feelings for Sungjae.”

Even as Changsub finished his sentence, Sooyoung felt a wrench in her heart, making her cry out unexpectedly in pain. True to what Changsub said, Sooyoung felt the pain slowly recede. However, as it did so, Sooyoung saw Sungjae stop screaming and pass out, his body going limp against Sooyoung’s grip. Before any of them could react, Sungjae floated up above them, his body emitting a powerful red glow. The next moment, his form vanished, causing everyone to cry out in shock.

“Where is he?” shouted Changsub. “Don’t tell me he…”

“Anniya! We need to calm down!” shouted Minhyuk. “I can still sense his presence. Sooyoung-ssi, you need to go back to the mortal realm.”

“But…” began Sooyoung.

“You know you no longer love him, Sooyoung-ssi,” said Minhyuk. “It is now our business to look for Sungjae. We are sorry that you got entangled in all this mess. Hyunsik-ah, wipe her memories and send her back.”

“Arassoyo, hyung,” replied Hyunsik.

Sooyoung remained silent, as Hyunsik brought her to the gate that led to the mortal realm.

“Mianhe, Sooyoung-ssi. But this is for the best. Sometimes being able to forget is a blessing,” said Hyunsik.

Sooyoung maintained her silence. As Hyunsik held up his hand in front of Sooyoung’s face, a tear slid down her cheek. A bright white glow appeared over Hyunsik’s hand, and Sooyoung’s world went black.

~THREE MONTHS